The amount of force output required by a steering system is proportional to the lateral load on the front axle. At speed, the lateral load is generated primarily by the lateral acceleration of the vehicle. The force output of the power steering system is generated by the assist pressure and force input by the driver. The type of steering maneuver a vehicle is performing can be determined by observing the assist pressure, its change with time, the rate at which the steering wheel is being turned and the vehicle speed. With this information a variable assist power steering system can provide the optimum input force to output force relationship for a given steering maneuver. Unfortunately, conventional variable assist power steering systems do not take full advantage of this information as input to the electronic control module. The result has been power steering systems that are either inefficient or are slow to provide adequate flow during certain steering maneuvers, resulting in a perceptable increase in effort for a short period of time. For instance, some steering systems provide the full flow of a hydraulic pump to the steering valve, only to limit the hydraulic flow at the valve. This results in greater parasitic losses of the vehicles engine possibly leading to a decrease in potential fuel economy. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a power steering system that more efficiently uses the available control inputs to more optimally deliver variable power steering assist without consuming unnecessary energy.